Restore Public Confidence
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How to Restore Public Confidence in Senior Executives After the Recession
Why Public Confidence in C-level Executives Is at an All-Time Low
We all want to have supreme confidence in our leaders, be they corporate, government, educational, parents, or coaches. Government and corporate leaders occupy an even more tenuous and challenging task than other prominent persons.
They must both project and act like dominant, yet beneficent, rulers, while exposing their public and private lives to intense scrutiny. C-level executives, particularly those leading public companies, receive the “slings and arrows” of regulatory, media, stockholder, and general public evaluation and opinion.
The recession of the first decade of the 21st century has not been kind to senior executives in all industries. The media (print, audio, video, and electronic), in reporting economic events, has “enhanced” this scrutiny, either objectively or by following various agendas. The resulting public perception of many CEO’s and other C-level executives has generated a widespread lack of confidence in corporate leaders.
The depth of media coverage regarding U.S. government efforts to tame the down economy has contributed to the public perception of corporate leaders as greedy and selfish individuals. The creation of headlines designed to motivate the public to read, listen, or view the entire content of the article, discussion, or TV show have unwittingly (or intentionally) fostered this perception.
Just as some sports fans have rejected many professional athletes because of the exceptionally high compensation they earn in relation to their responsibilities, the public has lost confidence in many business leaders. As most senior executives are aware, it is typically difficult for a hard working public to understand the compensation levels of senior executives. Never having sat in a senior executive’s office, they lack the knowledge base to comprehend the incredible responsibility level faced by most senior management professionals.
Constant reports of government “bailouts” (most of which are sound business decisions that may generate solid profit for the government), combined with published reports of C-level compensation details, reinforce and deepen the resentment and loss of confidence. Unfortunately, like those who’ve played baseball as a child are sometimes troubled by the compensation of those few who can play better than 98 percent of the population, people who work very hard at lower level positions become resentful of the compensation levels of senior executives, causing a destruction of confidence.
How to Restore Outside Confidence in Your Position
It is imperative that C-level executives restore public confidence in the position and/or their personal contributions to the legendary success of American business. Here are some items to consider to achieve this goal.
• Establish a “culture of trust.” Accept that, with all your power and authority, you cannot mandate trustworthiness. You must build this feeling from within with both your staff and the public.
• Overcome negative perceptions. You should determine the strength of negativity before adopting an action plan to correct perceptions. From both stockholder and staff perspectives, C-level executives must establish that theyare the MOST trusted employees in the company.
• Accept and understand your global perception. In contrast to the public perceptions of much of American citizenry, the global perception of U.S. senior executives places them amongst the most effective and trusted in the world. Use this global perception to your advantage.
• Accept that younger generations don’t have the level of trust of former generations. The number of breaches of public trust by politicians, corporate, and religious leaders in the past two decades has created a general lack of trust in all leaders. Work to overcome this condition.
• Use the immediate global transfer of information to your advantage, not detriment. With the immediacy of websites like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, the fast transmission of e-mail, and the electronic speed of the media, sending information around the globe is fast and easy. C-level executives must prepare to respond immediately should a perceived breach of trust occur. Lacking this preparation can be devastating. Using this reality effectively could quickly reestablish or even increase trust.
• Realize that you’ll now be judged on more than just operating results and strong profits. Senior executives must now satisfy more than traditional profit objectives. Community involvement, positive environment activities, and social responsibility have risen to equality in performance perceptions.
• Emphasize the importance of the “trust factor” whenever possible. Whether with your Board, constituents, stockholders, customers, or staff, you should try to get all thinking about the “trust factor” and your goal of perfection. Few benefits accrue to those that consistently reinforce their trustworthiness if the above-noted evaluators fail to place the proper value upon this virtue.
As you can see, reestablishing the public trust in C-level executives, severely damaged by the recession, is not a “quick fix” opportunity. Public trust is important to optimal performance and corporate strength. The extensive damage to the senior executive position during the recession must be repaired as thoroughly as possible. Circumstances dictate that a multi-faceted strategy, including the suggestions noted, needs to be employed to re-energize public confidence in CEO’s and all C-level executives as the recession evaporates.